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News and Views
Volcanology: Carbon below the sea floor -
David Goldberg
doi:10.1038/ngeo1019
Magma from the mantle meets the ocean at seafloor spreading centres. At young rifts, basalt sills may heat overlying sediments and induce natural carbon release; basalt flows elsewhere may offer secure reservoirs for sequestration of anthropogenic carbon.
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Submarine volcanism: Deeply explosive -
Richard Arculus
doi:10.1038/ngeo1306
Volcanic activity is much more common beneath the oceans than on land, yet has been observed only rarely. Direct measurements of an eruption in the southwest Pacific Ocean reveal unexpectedly explosive activity at great depths.
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Letters
Survival of mussels in extremely acidic waters on a submarine volcano -
Verena Tunnicliffe, Kimberley T. A. Davies, David A. Butterfield, Robert W. Embley, Jonathan M. Rose & William W. Chadwick Jr
doi:10.1038/ngeo500
Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are causing ocean acidification, compromising the ability of some marine organisms to build and maintain support structures. An analysis of mussels from a submarine volcano setting with natural low-pH conditions shows low shell thicknesses and growth rates, but survival over up to four decades.
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The role of magma injection in localizing black-smoker activity -
William S. D. Wilcock, Emilie E. E. Hooft, Douglas R. Toomey, Paul R. McGill, Andrew H. Barclay, Debra S. Stakes & Tony M. Ramirez
doi:10.1038/ngeo550
The mechanisms for localization of black-smoker systems at mid-ocean ridges remain to be fully understood. Seismic data for a segment of the Juan de Fuca ridge with long-lived black-smoker vents reveal ongoing magma recharge into the crustal magma chamber, thereby providing an explanation for the localization.
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Carbon release by off-axis magmatism in a young sedimented spreading centre -
Daniel Lizarralde, S. Adam Soule, Jeff S. Seewald & Giora Proskurowski
doi:10.1038/ngeo1006
Continental rifting creates narrow ocean basins, where coastal ocean upwelling and enhanced silicate weathering remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Evidence from seismic data, sonar backscatter and seafloor images, and geochemical water analyses suggest that in young sedimented rifts, active magmatism occurs in a broader region than appreciated and releases carbon from the sediments.
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Explosive eruptions at mid-ocean ridges driven by CO2-rich magmas-
Christoph Helo, Marc-Antoine Longpré, Nobumichi Shimizu, David A. Clague & John Stix
doi:10.1038/ngeo1104
Volcanism at mid-ocean ridges is usually effusive, but some explosive eruptions have been documented. Measurement of the carbon dioxide content of lavas erupted at the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Pacific Ocean, indicate that elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide in the upper oceanic mantle could drive these explosive eruptions.
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Articles
Young off-axis volcanism along the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge -
Jared J. Standish & Kenneth W. W. Sims
doi:10.1038/ngeo824
Mid-ocean ridges grow through tectonic and volcanic processes. Uranium-series dating of volcanic rocks at the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge reveals widely dispersed, young, off-axis volcanism that is spatially coincident with fault surfaces. Faults may therefore provide a mechanism for the wide dispersal of magma at ultraslow-spreading ridges.
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Active submarine eruption of boninite in the northeastern Lau Basin -
Joseph A. Resing, Kenneth H. Rubin, Robert W. Embley, John E. Lupton, Edward T. Baker, Robert P. Dziak, Tamara Baumberger, Marvin D. Lilley, Julie A. Huber, Timothy M. Shank, David A. Butterfield, David A. Clague, Nicole S. Keller, Susan G. Merle, Nathaniel J. Buck, Peter J. Michael, Adam Soule, David W. Caress, Sharon L. Walker, Richard Davis, James P. Cowen, Anna-Louise Reysenbach & Hans Thomas
doi:10.1038/ngeo1275
Boninite lavas are erupted during the early stages of subduction, however they have previously been found only in the ancient geological record. Discovery of an active boninite eruption shows that abundant volatile gases derived from the subducting slab drive this violent eruptive activity, even in the deep sea.
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